My Very First Blog

Oh no!! I've been tagged!!

I hate to do tags but I love to start one myself and tag others. Haha!

So to those who want to tag me, expect sweet, sweet revenge from me. Muahaha!!

I received this Versatile Blogger Award from Tekkaus recently.


Thanks so much for the award but the thing is, why do I have to come out with 7 random things about myself? So this award comes with strings attached? Damn!

Anyway, I think I've done this tag before. Wait.... Let me search my archives.......

Yes!! I've done it before and you can read it HERE.

Done. Haha! Shortest post ever! Bye peeps. See y'all later! : )

Oh but before I leave, I need to tag others (like you?) so here are the rules.

1. List 7 random things about yourself

2. Share the award with up to 15 other bloggers

3. Link to each of the recipients and let them know they've won via comments on their blogs

4. Thank and bring the love back to the person you won the award from by linking back to them.

OK, OK, I know some of you are not going to let me go without an updated 7 Random Things About Me. So I'll just take some from my old post and add in a few new ones. Here goes...

1. I don't like to show my face online. I don't like to camwhore. I am a private person yet I love to share my personal thoughts with the world.

2. I don't like people who are too opinion-minded. To me, there is no such thing as right or wrong. What you think is right may be wrong to others and vice versa. Everything is open to interpretation.

3. I usually cannot win a fight. The reason is I can see the other person's viewpoints too easily and although I do not agree with him or her, I accept his or her viewpoints. Because like I mentioned in No.2, there is no such thing as right or wrong. This is probably one of my biggest weaknesses.

4. I don't wear a watch. I rely on my iPhone for the time. That is why I am really lost when my iPhone runs out of battery!

5. I love to play the piano and can play for hours. My longest record is 8 hours straight on the piano with toilet breaks in between.

6. I love to tweet. I don't really know why. I just think it's fun! I used to sms a lot last time. No longer. Tweeting has replaced sms-ing. And with my iPhone, I can tweet on the go!

7. I like cloudy and rainy weather. I know most people prefer blue skies and sunny weather, but not me. I am happiest when it rains!

OK, enough about me. Now let me hear from these 15 bloggers whom I am going to pass this award to. They are....

Kenwooi
Pikey
Angie
Keeyit
Bengbeng
Lina
Lisa
Cheahs@n
Annantz
Nick
Ishmael
Shingo-T
Levian
Jam
Manglish

If you have already been tagged by others for this award, you can choose not to do this tag - it's up to you! But let me see the proof first, OK? : )

I went through my photos recently and realized I had forgotten to blog about my buffet dinner at Paya Serai in PJ Hilton last year.

Normally I don't go for buffets nowadays unless I get 50% discount. Maybe I am getting older and realised I cannot eat as much as before so I actually prefer going for ala-carte meals.

Anyway, this dinner buffet only cost me about RM45 after the 50% discount so I guess it was worth it.



Oysters, mussels and squids - they were nice, although I am not too fond of squids!



Chicken satay with peanut sauce - love this! But of course still no match with Satay Kajang Haji Samuri. I also ate beef satay (not in the photo) and they were delicious!



Apple celery soup - This was surprisingly nice! I remember I went for second and third helpings!



OK, I honestly could not remember what these were, so maybe you want to help me figure it out? Haha.



OK, I think the one on the left is nasi kerabu and there's a popiah or spring roll at the top part. I really could not remember the rest!



Most of the kueh (desserts) were pretty average in taste. Nothing outstanding that is worth a mention.



However, I liked this pengat pisang dessert. Can you see the many chunks of bananas inside? Yummy!



I am ashamed to say this, but this was my first time eating this fruit called buah pulasan. Did you know which one I am referring to in the photo above?

Buah pulasan is the one that looks like rambutan, except that its hairs are thicker like soft bristles. The other smaller fruit is longan or mata kucing. This buah pulasan actually tasted quite similar to the rambutans, but its flesh is tougher and dryer unlike the rambutans which has a moist and softer flesh.

I went to this buffet with a group of friends. As usual, we were the firsts to arrive and the last to leave. Haha!

In a way, that was good as it allowed me to take some photos of the place without crowds of people blocking the view.



Not a bad place this, but unfortunately, I can't say the same for the food, which was average at best.



I actually went to PJ Hilton again for another round of buffet a few weeks back as I had another 50% discount. Sadly, I think the food was even worse than before.

Having eaten the buffet at Shangri-la Hotel's Lemon Garden Cafe, I felt all the others paled in comparison. So no more PJ Hilton's buffet for me, at least not for the next few months!

1. I love my Random Notes posts! Do you like my Random Notes too? Sure hope you do. Haha! Anyway, today is the 13th in the series. Hey it's Friday! So shall I call it Friday the 13th? LOL!

2. Last night, I had the WORST asam laksa noodles for dinner in my entire life! Guess where did I eat? OK, let me tell you. It's at OldTown White Coffee. I won't mention which outlet but it was really, really horrible! I could only find one thin slice of shredded fish in it! What kind of asam laksa is that?

3. Do you want to know my latest hobby? OK, it's not really my latest cos I have been at it for years! Haha! I am talking about afternoon naps! I love taking short power naps and I call it Panda Power Nap or PPN for short. Why panda? Go figure! Do you take PPN? : )

4. OK, some people will say taking naps are only for lazy people. If that is so, then Bill Clinton, Leonardo da Vinci and Thomas Edison are lazy people! I am so privileged to be in this list of famous people. Hmm, wonder if Obama is in this list as well?

5.You want to know the benefits of taking power naps? And the difference between nano-nap, micro-nap, mini-nap and power-nap? Read HERE

6. Of course, not everyone can afford to take power naps, especially if you work in the office. Really, all offices should have a room just for people to take 20 minutes power naps! Look, it can increase productivity as you will feel more alert after a nap and can focus better. Of course, employers are strictly against this since they know most of their employees are either busy blogging, tweeting, msn-ing, or facebooking instead of working! Haha!

7. Want to know 5 ways to change your IP address? Watch this video.



8. Recently, I had so much fun irritating people with my Vuvuzela! If you don't know what a Vuvuzela is, obviously you have not been following the FIFA World Cup that is going on now. Here's a picture of a man blowing the Vuvuzela.



Oh no! I did not buy a real Vuvuzela! Just downloaded the app on my iPhone and started blowing it to annoy people especially those who hated the noise made by this trumpet-lookalike instrument. Haha!

9. I was laughing and laughing when I saw these photos of Lady Gaga on those super duper high platform shoes and she stumbled and fell on her face at of all places, the airport! So bloody funny!



Well, that's over-the-top Lady Gaga for you!

Hope you had enjoyed reading my Random Notes today! Have a great weekend! : )

Do you like Thai food?

I simply love it!

I went to Erawan at Dataran Sunway in Kota Damansara the other day to try out this Thai restaurant with my friend. But when we stepped into the restaurant, my friend dropped a bombshell. She told me she's full and could not eat anything!

I was like, what the .........?! Why the heck did she agree to go dinner with me then? How was I going to try all those dishes that I wanted to try eating alone?

And so we (or rather, I) ended up eating these....

Mieng kam (เมี่ยงคำ in Thai)



This appetizer was simply delicious! For the uninitiated, mieng kam is a popular Thai snack. It is made up of 7 different ingredients which you placed onto a leaf. After filling the leaf, you add some Thai fish sauce on top, fold up the leaf and put into your mouth. Yummy!!

I think the difference with Erawan's mieng kam is its super delicious sauce!!



Look at how concentrated the sauce is! Unlike most other Thai restaurants which provide a more watered down (diluted) version.

But of course the mieng kam came at a price - RM20 to be exact! Rather expensive, don't you think?

Tom yam noodles in clear soup - This I ordered all for myself.



I like the taste of this spicy and sour soup! But most importantly the prawns were fresh and noodles springy. It was good but I thought RM20 for a bowl was a little too expensive!

I was already quite full since I was the one doing most of the eating. But that's not going to stop me from ordering Thai desserts!

Since I am crazy about durians and anything to do with this thorny fruit, I went for Erawan's ....

Durian with sticky rice.



My friend took a small scoop of the durian with some sticky rice and said it was nice! Well, I agreed with her but it still could not match the one I had in Bangkok a few years back.

If any one of you go Bangkok, do not miss the very delicious durian with sticky rice sold by this Thai lady at the Food Court located on the 6th floor of MBK Shopping Mall in Bangkok.

I actually told the restaurant owner about this but he insisted that many people from near and far go to his restaurant for this dessert! Well, it was probably the best durian with sticky rice in town or even in Malaysia but definitely not the world. Haha!

Anyway, this delicious dessert burnt a RM12 hole in my pocket! I think it was much, much cheaper eating it in Bangkok! OK, must plan for a Bangkok trip next! LOL!



Apart from the delicious food, I found the ambience in this restaurant really, really nice! There's a smell of lemongrass (I think) lingering in the air as you step into the restaurant.



Service was good and the owner was willing to explain in detail each dishes and gave his recommendations.

For drinks (sorry no photos) my friend ordered pineapple lassi (RM12) and I went for honey lemongrass drink (RM8). Not bad - I liked the lemongrass drink!

All in all, the damage came to RM72 nett. Pretty expensive especially since it was me who was doing most of the eating, but I would say the food was of high quality.



That's the green elephant giving us sweets to tempt us to return.



So will I go back for another visit? Most definitely! Besides, I have yet to try most of the other dishes in the menu but I would need a few friends for that!

Now since I am not paid to blog about this restaurant, and since I do not want too many people to know about this place (it's OK, call me selfish!) I am not going to share the address with you all. Haha!

However, if you really, really want to go there, you can always google it or just drop me an email! Have a nice day, everyone! : )

I have not been updating my blog for almost a week now. You must be wondering why I was MIA (Missing In Action)! Well, let me tell you why....

1. I was busy watching the World Cup. I am not a huge football fan, mind you, but it was a once-in-four-years thingy and I just could not NOT be a part of it! I just realised the World Cup provided me with the BEST excuse for just about anything this month! Maybe they should have the World Cup every year! LOL!

2. When I was not watching World Cup, I was busy watching my favourite TVB drama serials. Seriously, why would anyone bother to watch Korean and Japanese shows? Hong Kong TVB dramas are the best in terms of plot-lines and acting! Well, to me anyway! haha!

3. When I was not watching my favourite TVB dramas, I was busy tweeting. Since I am not good at multi-tasking, don't expect me to blog and tweet at the same time! LOL! Well, tweeting is pretty addictive and I just got sucked into this whole Twitter phenomenon!

4. I was tired of waiting for my photos to upload. Now you know why this post have no photos!

5. I was busy working hard to earn money. You know right, the Government is going to do away with the subsidies and petrol price will be increasing soon, and we all know everything else will automatically be more costly once petrol price increases! How to survive if I don't work my panda ass off?

6. I was busy helping my mom wrap and steam those bak chang (glutinous rice dumplings). They were so yummy! Can you blame me for helping my mom make bak chang and not update my blog?

7. I was not in the mood to blog. Although I love blogging, I, like any normal bloggers, still have my off days. So gimme a break, will ya?

8. I wanted to know how it feels like not blogging for a week. Well, I wanted to experiment a little and see how it feels like not blogging for an entire week. Of course, I failed, because before the week was over, I had already resumed blogging. Damn!! Guess I would never ever stop blogging for good! Hmmm, wonder if this is good or bad news?

9. I was busy reading your blog. Yeah right! I can just hear you say that. Haha! But look, just because I did not leave any comments in your blog, that does not mean I did not read your blog or at least glanced through it. Well, I think I did admire some of the photos you took or at least downloaded from the Internet : )

10. I attended Bloggers Anonymous (something along the lines of Alcoholics Anonymous) and it seemed to be working!! Until now, that is....haha!

So there you are - my 10 reasons why I did not update my blog lately! What about you? Do you have off days in blogging? Have you ever thought of quitting blogging and leading normal lives again?

1. Hooray!! Martha Stewart is now following me on Twitter! Thank you Martha! Now I wonder when will my idol Mariah Carey follow me? LOL!

2. Did you all know that Martha Stewart came to visit Malaysia last month? I was quite excited following all her tweets as she toured round KL, Melaka, Pangkor and Sabah. You can read all about it from her blog.

3. Did you all watch Nightmare On Petaling Street? I am sure you didn't because that movie does not exist! Haha! I am actually referring to Nightmare On Elm Street - the remake. (For the uninitiated, Petaling Street is a famous hawker street in downtown KL, Malaysia)

4. I was surprised that the good looking actor and actress died early in the Nightmare On Elm Street, leaving the not-so-good looking (or average looking) actor and actress to save the day. Is this the director's clever tactic to keep us guessing? Who would have thought that they would end up as lead actor and actress?

4. It's the World Cup mania! Everyone is talking about it! Do you watch every football match or are you indifferent to the World Cup? Who do you think will win the World Cup this year?

5. Have you watched the latest raunchy music video from Lady Gaga featuring her song Alejandro? If not, watch it here.



Many people criticized her for being outrageous and portraying religious symbols negatively but Lady Gaga responded that this video is a celebration of her love and admiration for the gay community. (Read more HERE). What do you think?

6. I learnt this magic trick from a fellow magician. With this trick, I can now read your mind! Don't believe me? Why don't you give it a try? Do this now...

• Think of a number from 1 - 9. Write it down on a piece of paper and keep it. I will attempt to guess what number you thought of and you don't even have to be near me! Yes I can read your mind even if you are in another country!
• Now multiply the number with 2.
• Then add it with 5.
• Next, multiply it with 5.
  
• Done? Now, to make this harder for me, think of another number from 1-9. I will attempt to guess this number as well, so write it down on the piece of paper too in case you forget your numbers.
• Now add this number to the total and tell me your final result.

Leave your answer in the comments here and I will reply you with the two numbers you had in mind earlier. So do remember to come back later to check my reply!!

NOTE : Those of you who know this trick please do not reveal the magic so as not to spoil the fun! Thank you!!

Last year, I flew to a few countries in search of something. Something that you will never be able to guess. Despite not being a Muslim, I traveled all over the world in search of mosques!!

Would you believe me if I tell you that I have a certain fascination with these Islamic places of worship?

I was in Lahore, Pakistan visiting the Badshahi Mosque.



And then, I flew to Turkey to visit the Suleyman Mosque.



Can you guess where this mosque is located?



See those Hindu-Javanese "pagoda" style minarets? Don't they resemble the meru I talked about during my Bali trip? Yes! This is the Kudus Minar Mosque in Central Java, Indonesia.

I even went to Egypt famous for their pyramids in search of mosques! Here is the photo I took of Mohammed Ali Mosque in Egypt!



From Egypt, I flew to Mecca in Saudi Arabia for this famous Al-Haram Mosque.



Inside this mosque lies the Ka'bah - the holiest place in the world for all Muslims!

Do you like the fine architecture of this Al-Haram Mosque?



Believe it or not, I even went to Iran for the blue coloured Sheikh Lutfallah Mosque!



Closer to home, I took a photo of our famous National Mosque in KL.



OK, I have a confession to make.



I did not fly around the world in search of mosques. No, I am not that obsessed with mosques.

But I swear I took these photos. They are all genuine photos and not photos I stole from the Internet or elsewhere.

If you look at the photos carefully, you might or you might not detect something suspicious about them.

I have tried my best to cover them up. Any evidence to show that these mosques are not what they seem were carefully taken out.

Oh, these mosques exist all right. However, they are all a fraction of the sizes of the real, actual mosques.

And they are all contained in this place called Taman Tamadun Islam in Kuala Terengganu. Heard of the place? Well, that's where me and my friend went to kill time while waiting for our delayed flight back to KL.

In case you do not know what I am talking about, read my previous post.

In my next post, I shall show you more photos of mosques from China, Thailand, Iraq, India and Niger just to name a few. Oh! Also don't miss the famous Crystal Mosque of Terengganu, which I shall also blog about next!

Meantime, have a great weekend, everyone! : )

Remember I told you that I saw an UFO during my cab ride from the Kuala Terengganu airport to Lake Kenyir? If not, read HERE.

Well, I actually saw another UFO on the way back from Lake Kenyir. And I even successfully took a photo of it!

NOW PLEASE DO NOT SCROLL DOWN for that photo!!!!
Enjoy reading about my last day at Lake Kenyir first or you shall miss all the fun! Haha!

After enjoying ourselves at Herbal Island and Saok Waterfall, we took the speedboat back to our hotel. On the way, we passed by the infamous Dead Trees of Lake Kenyir.



Our tour guide told us that they could not bring us any closer to the dead trees as the trees would damage the boat. Luckily, me and my friend visited the dead trees up close and personal on our own the day before so it was OK.

From the boat, we could see numerous chalets by the lake front.



Oh! And we spotted the Lake Kenyir Resort And Spa main building too! See that balcony where we ate our breakfast overlooking the beautiful Lake Kenyir? Well, now we were on Lake Kenyir looking right back! Haha!



See that smaller building below the Resort's main building? That's where we would be heading to once we reached land!



That's the Ulik Mayang Spa where we would be having our sauna and massage!

I was so looking forward to this massage as my friend and I had a nice body scrub and massage there the day before and we loved it! Read about it HERE

So immediately after we reached land, we went straight there.

We went for the sauna first. This is how the sauna box looked like.



That is for one person, not two! There were two sauna boxes. So we did not share the same sauna box if that's what you think! Haha!

This is how the interior of the sauna box looks like.



We were supposed to sit inside that sauna box for 30 minutes, but we both found it unbearably hot and uncomfortable! So before even 15 minutes were up, we called the staffs to cut short our sauna and do a longer back massage instead. Luckily they agreed to our request!

Before the massage, we were given a choice of four different types of oil. We both chose the lemongrass oil.



The back massage was excellent! It was 45 minutes of bliss! The total package of sauna and back massage was priced at a promotional price of RM75 per pax. Not too bad, yes?

Immediately after the massage, we headed straight back to our chalet, which was just a stone's throw away. We did a quick pack-up and before we knew it, the buggy had arrived at our doorstep to take us to the resort's lobby for check out.

After bidding goodbye to the resort's staffs, we left Lake Kenyir in a taxi.

Along the way to the airport, we stopped by a roadside stall selling duku langsat.



Yummy, yummy duku langsat! My friend and I bought 3kg each. I kind of regretted later I did not buy more as they were really good!



I saw more of these delicious fruits in plastic baskets on the grass.



There was a stall next to it selling pisang goreng and kuih bahulu.



We were hungry, so we bought some pisang goreng and kuih bahulu.



As we continued our journey to the airport in the taxi, we decided to eat the pisang goreng and kuih bahulu while they were still steaming hot!

And then, just as I was about to bite into the kuih bahulu, I saw it. The UFO!!!

In this bright afternoon, can you believe I spotted an UFO? I quickly snapped a photo of the flying saucer! Gosh! I could not believe my luck!!

Finally, an UFO in Malaysia..... clearly captured on camera!!



Will this be the next hottest news in Malaysia and probably the world? Will it?

Unfortunately not.

That's because the UFO I saw was not in the sky..... but in my hand.



It's the kuih bahulu that I was about to bite into! Haha!!

Doesn't it look like an UFO to you? It sure does to me! LOL!

Anyway, before you can say "Crap!", I had already eaten and gulped down that UFO! Haha! It was yummy!!

Suddenly I received an sms on my handphone. I took a look at it. Oh no!! It was a message from Firefly. Our 4pm flight would be delayed by several hours to 7pm!

I looked at my friend in despair. What are we going to do with 3 free hours on our hands? That's what you will find out in my next post, so stay tuned! : )